“It’s just a day at the beach..”
This saying is meant to imply that something is really “easy.”
But when you throw autism into the mix, “a day at the beach” can mean ALL SORTS of things and NONE of them are “easy.”
Behavioral issues (throwing sand/rocks at others). Sensory issues. Sand texture. Temperature extremes (hot sand/cold water). Eloping. Water danger. The list goes on and on…
So we went to the beach today.
One of the blessings/curses of all the swimming lessons is that Jonah is comfortable in and around water.
Really comfortable.
Which makes me EXTRA nervous. This is ocean water. There is no “rail” or wall to hang on to. There are waves and a tide and currents…
But never mind that because the last few times we have taken Jonah to the beach, he developed an aversion to the sand. He didn’t want to walk on it. He didn’t want to feel it on his skin. He ended up not wanting to even be in the water… because of the sand.
Today started like that (he would ask me to pick him up, but then would want to be put down, but would hold his feet up so I couldn’t set him all the way down because …”sand.”), so we bought him some “water shoes” that helped mitigate the feel of “sand” on his feet and he walked in a stream of water all the way down from the top of the beach to the shoreline. One aversion conquered, or sidestepped for now.
Once we made it to the actual water, I thought maybe he wouldn’t want to get that wet. And if he did actually wade in a little bit, I didn’t think it would be for that long.
It wasn’t particularly warm today and with the temperature being even colder in the water, I wasn’t sure he would make it that long.
Boy was I wrong.
He did not hesitate at all before tromping right into the saltwater.
He started at about ankle-deep water and then gradually went farther out.
He brought a little red bucket with him and filled it up with water and then watched it as he poured it out again and again.
He would then throw his bucket farther AWAY from shore just so he had to “go get it” and venture into deeper waters.
I had to call him closer to shore multiple times.
I ended up in the water with him because I was a nervous wreck.
We have been working on swimming a ton, and I think BECAUSE of all the swimming lessons, I was just as nervous today as I was the first time we came to the beach when he was a toddler.
But he did okay. He didn’t venture out too far…
He wouldn’t listen to me when I told him to come closer as the tide moved in and the water rose higher and higher, but when my friend called him to move closer, he actually LISTENED to him instead of me. (What’s that about?)
…but he stayed out there a good long while until he was shivering, had a case of blue lips, and probably hypothermia. (Kidding)
But even when he was freezing cold, he didn’t want to come out of the water. He would grit his teeth and bear it, shivering and all.
He made it about 2 hours before he couldn’t take it any longer and asked me to pick him up. I then had to carry him about a quarter-mile back to the car, teeth chattering, soaked with saltwater and covered in sand.
So many things can happen at the beach when you have young kids, especially when you throw autism into the mix.
We prepare the best we can but you never really know how it will turn out. Some days, you can’t even make it TO the sand let alone past it.
But today was a day of victories.
All the hard work has brought us “today.”
Just a “day at the beach.”